NORTH Melbourne has consigned a dismal Richmond to its third-straight loss with a 35-point win at Blundstone Arena on Saturday.
Just a goal apart at half-time, North Melbourne grinded out the 16.13 (109) to 10.14 (74) win on the back of six straight goals in the third term.
Five talking points: North Melbourne v Richmond
Lindsay Thomas was the star, kicking five goals from just nine kicks. It continues an impressive run for Thomas who has kicked 16 goals from seven games at the Tasmanian ground.
Recruit Shaun Higgins chipped in with three goals, and was well supported by Jack Ziebell and fellow forward Drew Petrie.
Local product Jack Riewoldt finished with three goals, the Tigers' best, but Richmond was outclassed as it sank to 2-4 for the season.
Speaking post-match, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick was in no doubt as to what had caused his side to break down so badly and allow North to pile on seven goals in the decisive third quarter.
Hardwick flags changes at Tigerland
"It’s the period in games where we have concentration lapses, we play well below expectation and the scoreboard gets out of control," Hardwick said.
"They had nine inside entries for the quarter and they kicked 7.2. Some of them from our horrible turnovers and the game is all of a sudden out of reach."
North Melbourne coach Brad Scott was pleased with his side’s output during the match-defining third term, singling out improved execution by hand and foot as the key factors that allowed the Roos to run away to their third win of the season.
"We were a little bit frustrating up until that point in terms of being able to execute as well as we wanted to," Scott said.
Thomas sparked Roos to win, says Scott
"I thought we were a bit more direct with the way we used the ball.
"If we can produce that sort of footy on a more regular basis we’re going to be OK."
The game got off to a scrappy start, with both sides struggling to land early attempts at goal.
Dustin Martin and Shane Edwards were the standouts for Richmond in the first quarter, keeping the Tigers up to speed with the favourites.
A clash near the eastern boundary late in the opening quarter left Ben Griffiths concussed and in the hands of the trainers, escorted from the ground to be replaced by Nathan Gordon.
Play continued to be uninspiring in the second quarter, with more opportunities squandered.
In one example, a fine passage of play which saw a textbook interception by Mason Wood and kick on to Jarrad Waite, set the latter up for a near-square shot inside the 50.
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But the subsequent attempt at goal faded to produce only a point.
Despite an early third-quarter goal from Jack Riewoldt, the Tigers weren't able to close the gap.
A trio of goals within five minutes to Drew Petrie, Shaun Higgins and Lindsay Thomas stretched the margin to 22 points, and by three-quarter time the Kangaroos were 41 points ahead.
While a flame briefly flickered in the final term as the Tigers opened with two straight goals, it was quickly snuffed out by the Roos as they followed with three straight goals.
Remarkably, 92 of North Melbourne’s points came from Richmond turnovers.
It was an even performance across the midfield for the Roos with only five players having 20 or more touches.
Martin and ex-Giant Anthony Miles were impressive for the Tigers with 30 disposals each.
North now has a 5-2 record at its Hobart ‘home’ and faces Essendon, Fremantle, Collingwood and West Coast in a defining month ahead.
Richmond coach Damien Hardwick now finds himself under the pump and looking for answers ahead of clashes against Collingwood, Port Adelaide, Essendon and Fremantle.
Lachlan Hansen is tackled by Kamdyn McIntosh on Saturday. Picture: Sean Garnsworthy, AFL Media.
NORTH MELBOURNE 3.2 6.8 13.10 16.13 (109)
RICHMOND 2.1 5.8 6.11 10.14 (74)
GOALS
North Melbourne: Thomas 5, Higgins 3, Harvey 2, Nahas 2, Brown, Wright, Petrie, Waite
Richmond: Riewoldt 3, Miles 2, Martin, Maric, Morris, Edwards, Chaplin
BEST
North Melbourne: Petrie, Thomas, Harvey, Goldstein, Jacobs, Ziebell, Wright
Richmond: Miles, Martin, Edwards, Grigg, Riewoldt
INJURIES
North Melbourne: Jamie Macmillan (Achilles) replaced in selected side by Ben Jacobs
Richmond: Ben Griffiths (concussion)
SUBSTITUTES
North Melbourne: Lachlan Hansen replaced by Ryan Bastinac in the final quarter.
Richmond: Ben Griffiths replaced by Nathan Gordon at quarter-time.
Reports: Nil
Umpires: Nick Foot, Simon Meredith, Jacob Mollison
Official crowd: 17,544 at Blundstone Arena
